Friday, June 6, 2014

Rain.

We had rain on and off throughout the night. Fortuantely, all the outside work is done at last so I don't feel guilty about staying inside and doing nothing. The meadow is all mowed, all the roof work is up to speed, and I have no need to go anywhere.

Remember this picture of Ragnar after his surgery? He looked pretty rough and I wondered, on occasion, if he was going to survive it.

Here he is yesterday, after he got into the trashcan next to my desk and made himself a nest in it. When I'm working at the desk he likes to come sleep nearby.

He likes to sleep in the trashcan right at the end of the month especially, since it is full of nice, crinkly bills that he can drag out and make a fine bed out of . I let him play with the statements for a few days and then I burn them, because it gets tedious having to pick them up time after time. He has been getting extra ferret vitamins so his "rat tail" problems are going away and his tail will soon be fluffy like it should be.

Midori the Cat likes to go up to the loft, then get in the track lights that run along both sides of the living room ceiling. She sleeps there. In winter I turn on the lights for her so she can enjoy the heat they radiate. She likes it up there at least partially because the ferrets can't get up the stairs and ambush her or bother her while she is asleep.

Nothing on the schedule for today. The sun will be coming up in about an hour, but I doubt I will see the sunrise because there are thick clouds out there. We are supposed to get some serious storms through here today. There are worse things, though, than sleeping on the couch and having the rain and wind blowing outside.

24 comments:

I'm glad old Ragnar is feeling better. He deserves a nice comfortable retirement.

On that show on "Sportsmans Channel" on the previous post. I think all the money invested in elaborate retreats is somewhat of a waist. My ancestors that lived on a farm outside Atlanta (pre-civil war) did pretty well. Well enough I should say for my great, great grandfather to run off and fight in the war for the South.

My mother grew up on a ranch out west with no electricity. I joke with her that she was "off the grid" before off the grid was fashionable.

I think a water well (or another super reliable water source) is a necessity. A few solar panels (The fewer gadgets, the fewer panels needed) Wood burning stoves and a few other 19th century odds and ends. Indoor plumbing and running water for me is number one. I would be (very) happy with water well and a septic system. I feel no need for an outhouse (I gotta draw the line somewhere)

In the end run its 19th century technology and simplicity. Any gizmos or gadgets that can not be easily repaired or are overly complex are prone to catastrophic failure and can not be relied upon.Our ancestors had the right idea. I think I would use gadgets that were up to 1940's manufacture and did not require electricity. I think in the late 1930's everything was turning into electrically driven devices (thanks in part to the CCC, TVA, Hoover Dam and other projects that brought electricity to rural America)

It's a matter of the degree of catastrophe you want to plan for, I guess. And a matter of how much money you can devote to it. This couple had money to burn, so all the systems and gadets represented no hardship or going without elsewhere to them. If I had that kind of money, I would probably build something similar up here on the mountain. They can cover everything from a few weeks without power due to hurricane remnants passing through, to a major EMP. The guy even had Faraday cages for his critical equipment. For most of us, though, we will have to do more with less. And I think most of us would realize that we would have to be satisfied with a less comfortable life style. There are plenty of people who are trying to insure they can live essentially the same way they do today if things go sour.

Everybody has their own comfort level they strive for, based on what they think will happen, when they expect it, and what they think they will need. Your philosophy sounds very practical to me.

My great, great grandfather was in the 54th Georgia Infantry, in the Army of Tennessee from start to finish.

My great, great, grandfather was in the 42nd Infantry of the Georgia Volunteers and was taken prisoner by the Union. Family legend has it that he lost his arm to a musket ball. I can neither confirm or deny that fact.I hear the Georgia Volunteers had a reputation for being accurate shots (I guess it runs in the family) During my first carbine shooting competition. I shot all the targets in the head, including the good guys, bad guys, civilians, hostages (I got a little carried away) The targets were all the same colored cardboard so that did not help much at all.

Glad the little guy is better. Mn like GA this year is getting too much rain. One of the big local lakes has been posted as no wake due to erosion. I mowed part of the yard yesterday before the rain came through.

Too much rain means a lot of rot in wood, and a lot of mildew and mold if you don't keep everything climate controlled. It means the woods grow way too thick and become impenetrable. It also means even higher humditiy, and anything that has to be mowed or trimmed back will grow faster, meaning more work. Our lakes are a full pool, unusual for this time of year.

Ragnar is doing very well. He likes anything that he can burrow into. Ferrets like to be fortified when they sleep, because they are hard to wake up . You can pick up a sleeping ferret and carry him around, and he won't even know it.

No, no injuries. I'm fine. Just a bit winded from a maximum effort outside to catch up, all is well.

You have had a lot of bad luck this week. I'm sorry about the cat. That must have been traumatic. Especially coming on top of everything else. I hope things improve all the way around for your household in terms of having better fortune.

Ragnar has really perked up. He has good quality of life now, and we are just taking things a day at a time.

I saw from your blog you are working pretty hard outside. Canned food is cheaper than all that labor, but it's not renewable. If things go bad, you can keep raising food and I'll eventually eat up my stores. I know I should be out there gardening like everybody else and getting experience, but it just hasn't been in the cards yet. Too much else that needs fixing.

Ferrts are ambush predators, so there is nothing they like better than leaping out of hiding and attacking. I have to be careful when I walking around in my evening slippers, because that's one of their favorite targets.

He is fully convalescent at this point. Now we have to wait and see what malady he comes up with next. At the moment, he's trying to pull his box away from the freezer so he can go behind where the wires are. I have it weighed down though so he can't do that.

Stephen, really good to hear from you. I hope everything is ok down there. I've been missing your posts. I'll swing by and see if you've had a chance to do any updates lately, I know you've been up to your a** in alligators recently.

dear Harry - i am sooo glad that little Ragnar is doing better - what a relief for you! he looks so cute playing and sleeping in your bills - at least the bills give someone enjoyment! and i am glad that you got all of your outside work and the roof stuff done and can relax and enjoy the rain. and my goodness your cabin is beautiful!

Kymber, if only I could set my cabin and outbuildings down on a piece of land like yours, instead of up here on this mountain top in the middle of the rain forest! I have never in my life seen the woods so thick, I guess it is all this rain. Miriam said she doesn't think the forest has ever been this green in all the time we have lived here.

Ragnar is doing pretty well and seems happy. Jet and Spike, his two younger sidekicks, are fine. I am still trying to get some more ferrets. I have communicated with every animal rescue, human society and county pound within 80 miles and told them that I will take any ferrets people dump off, but fortunately that is not so prevalent as it once was. Maybe the word is getting out that ferrets are expensive and require a lot of care.

He is doing very well. I don't understand why the implant worked for him, but poor Rowena, who had adrenal disease too and had the same implant, died. Then right after that, Ragnar got his tumor and had to have his operation. It has been a long year for the ferrets.

as far as canned food goes, if you are really going to move and have the $ think about freeze-dried. it will keep in florida. bugs galore down there. hated the place.news says england being washed away in rain.deb h.

It will be years before we can go if we do. My wife has to retire. I have a good supply of different types of meat, freeze dried and stored in number ten cans. It does cost more but is light and long lasting.

But how to do it?

“The worst evil which befalls our race is, that when we are wronged and plundered, all the world laughs around, and we are compelled to suppress our sense of injury, and to smile tamely, when we would revenge bravely.”

― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

Sooth

"I certainly do not wish to live in a society dominated by blacks, Mexicans, and Orientals. Look at Africa, Mexico, and Asia."

Edward Abbey

Practical News

Edward Abbey

"It might be wise for us, as American citizens, to consider calling a halt to the mass influx of even more millions of hungry, ignorant, unskilled, and culturally-morally-genetically, impoverished people...Why not [support immigration]? Because we prefer democratic government, for one thing; because we still hope for an open, spacious, uncrowded, and beautiful--yes beautiful!--society, for another. The alternative, in the squalor, cruelty and corruption of Latin America, is plain for all to see."

Bugging Out. It's fraught with peril.

T-28 : They don't make 'em like that anymore!

Crank that big radial up.

George Orwell

He knew whereof he spoke.

Self Defense

"There exists a law, not written down anywhere, but inborn in our hearts, a law which comes to us not by training, or custom, or reading. A law which has come to us not by theory but from practice, not by instruction but by natural intuition. I refer to the law which lays down that, if our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right."

Marcus Tullius Cicero 106- 43 B.C.

Ferret and friend.

Ferratus: Little Thief

but good friends

Orwell

Steven Seagal

"There was a time when I thought I was doing a good thing with good guys for a good cause. Looking back, I think I really wanted to be a warrior."

The Magic Ferret

“A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot...”

― Robert A. Heinlein, Friday

John S. Mill

Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character had abounded; and the amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and courage which it contained.

Oswald Spengler

"This is our purpose: to make as meaningful as possible this life that has been bestowed upon us; to live in such a way that we may be proud of ourselves...."

Honor

" Everything that is called duty, the prerequisite for all genuine law and the substance of every noble custom, can be traced back to honor. If one has to think about it, one is already without honor."

Oswald Spengler "Thoughts"

Smokey

Elaine Boosler

"When women are depressed, they eat or go shopping. Men invade another country. It's a whole different way of thinking."

Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War

At the beginning of an undertaking the enthusiasm is always greatest. And at that time, both in the Peloponnesus and in Athens there were great numbers of young men who had never been in a war, and were consequently far from unwilling to join in this one.

Germaine Greer

"Perhaps catastrophe is the natural human environment, and even though we spend a great deal of energy trying to get away from it, we are programmed for survival amid catastrophe."

Jeff Cooper

"The police cannot protect the citizen at this stage of our development, and they cannot even protect themselves in many cases. It is up to the private citizen to protect himself and his family, and this is not only acceptable, but mandatory."

When seconds count, the police are minutes away.

Or in my case, maybe an hour or so.

Robert A. Heinlein

"I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them."

Careful what you say.

Security

He is best secure from dangers who is on his guard even when he seems safe.(Caret periculo, qui etiam tutus caveat)

Publius Syrus, 50 B.C.

Long Ago and Far Away

A good novel

An interesting book about something no one remembers anymore.

Jared Diamond

If you use a bolt action military rifle, you need stripper clips.

You can still get them if you look.

A useful book

I saw her off the coast of Lebanon.

Nobody will ever see a BB in action again.

Correct on both counts."

"You have to defend your honor. And your family."

Suzanne Vega

T-28 Trojan

My Hobby

A good general guide.

Huey

You can't tell the players without a program.

So many guns, so little time.

The Road

The book is great, and so is the movie.

A little of both.

“Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains.”

Jeffery Rasley

Mountains

“Mountains seem to answer an increasing imaginative need in the West. More and more people are discovering a desire for them, and a powerful solace in them. At bottom, mountains, like all wildernesses, challenge our complacent conviction - so easy to lapse into - that the world has been made for humans by humans. Most of us exist for most of the time in worlds which are humanly arranged, themed and controlled. One forgets that there are environments which do not respond to the flick of a switch or the twist of a dial, and which have their own rhythms and orders of existence."